Burnout! A NASA Intern, Software Engineer, Valedictorian, and Whatever Else's Guide to Survival

[ruski]

Yes, by no means do I want anyone to take my advice as universal, I should have stated that sooner. Despite having a successful cycle I am still inexperienced in college admissions and my advice should only be seen as a collection of my thoughts at best.

@Lindagaf

Not always. One person’s achievements while in college can go a very long way, especially for students who make a real effort to seek connections and opportunities.

Yes, this is what I mean by my “diamond in the rough” statement. Recruiters won’t pass on obvious talent if you come from a state school. Your university is not the end all be all of your future employment, however, speaking for my own field (software) I can’t ignore the fact that I have seen recruiters on multiple occasions automatically filtering resumes based on universities. My point is, at the very least, predisposed credibility never hurts!

@Lindagaf

I don’t agree with this. There are mostly good people in the industry whose goal is to help alleviate stress by ensuring kids have a realistic list of colleges. Fear is the opposite of the goal. Any student’s application can look great if they are applying to colleges that are suitable for them, based on their stats. I firmly believe that your next point about forums, especially reddit, is a hundred times more responsible for fear and anxiety than the college admissions industry itself. I also believe youtube college decision reaction videos, etc… are very negative influences on student expectations.

I think my wording may have been a bit too harsh, like I said previously, no shade to any college counselor doing good work. It is just that personally, from what I have seen, people do not go to private college counselors if they are sure of themselves and their applications. Anecdotally, I have gotten a lot of advertisements for very costly private college counselors that start with things like..:

1. “If you are not doing these top X extracurriculars, your ivy league application is going in the trash and here’s why”
2. “Research is the big thing for getting into good schools (heres my $5000 “research” program)”
3. “Your essay is bad and here’s how I can help”
4. “Your son/daughter needs to do these top 3 things for a good personal statement”

…and so on. Personally, I think such styles of advertisement are inflammatory. I won’t name specific counselors that I think are guilty of “fear-mongering” and I do not doubt that there are well-meaning people in the industry, but as an outside observer, it seems to me that some counselors can be too harsh in what seems like a ploy to attract customers. My main point here is, a private college counselor isn’t necessary for success! I made it just fine without one, and I know many other rural, low-income kids that did too.

@Lindagaf

Those types of essays are maybe a few hundred. Maybe. They are cherry-picked examples designed to lure a student into whatever the site is selling. (One great source is the classic book “On Writing the College Application Essay”, by Bauld. No flowers there.) After 13 years helping kids with essays, I can count on one hand those who have truly exceptional writing skills. Most kids who get into elite colleges are not writing like Shakespeare or anything close. Your writing here is authentic, i.e, good.

I think you reworded my point in the original post, because I agree with everything you said here.